Recent Events
Details of recent events held by the Hansard Society can be found below.
We audio record our events where possible, for a list of all of our recent events which can be listened to via mp3 download, please click here
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A Speech by the Lord Speaker, Rt Hon the Baroness Hayman
Last night the Lord Speaker addressed the Hansard Society in the exquisite Robing Room in the House of Lords. This historic room provided a fitting setting for her lecture on the past, present and future of the House of Lords. The Lord Speaker's principle assertion was that the key to reform lay in the upper house taking control of its own destiny; 'proving that self regulation..so fundamental to parliamentary democracy, can be made to work in line with 21st century expectations of openness, transparancy amd accountability'. Touching on the composition of the House of Lords and engagement with the wider public, the Lord Speaker emphasised that reform must take into account the valued history of the Lords whilst at the same time ensuring its future.
Read the speech in full here.
Listen to the audio: Lord Speaker's speech Q&A
The speech will be aired on BBC Parliament on Saturday December 12 at 9pm.
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Tuesday December 8th, House of Commons, Westminster
In Westminster last night the Hansard Society addressed the issue of Civil liberties, asking the question, ‘Are we at the mercy of the state?' What followed was an extremely lively debate between our panel, former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair, journalist and commentator Peter Oborne and Henry Porter political columnist and novelist. The principal issues of contention were the DNA database, ID cards and detention without charge - all within a wider debate concerning the plethora of anti-terror laws we have seen introduced over the last eight years.
Listen to the audio:
Henry Porter, Sir Ian Blair and Peter Oborne Civil Liberties Q&A
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The Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow MP
November 30, Portcullis House, Westminster
Last
night the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow MP (pictured with Fiona Booth, Chief Executive of the Hansard Society) delivered the PSA/
Hansard Society Annual Lecture to a packed audience in Portcullis House. This
was the second lecture delivered by the Speaker to a Hansard Society audience,
taking us yet further into the challenge of public engagement in the light of
the ‘reputational carnage' wreaked upon our constitutional institutions by the
expenses scandal. The lecture, entitled ‘Parliament
in an anti-politics age: the outreach challenge', took the following
approach. Firstly Mr Speaker was keen to issue an apology to all those employed
within the parliamentary estate for the damage done. Likening recent events to
the falling of Nazi bombs on the House in 1941, John Bercow MP stated that
nothing bar ‘wholesale reform' would offer Parliament the opportunity to
reconnect with the public.
The speech will be shown on the BBC Parliament channel at 9pm on Saturday December 5 and will be on BBC iPlayer thereafter.
Listen to the event: The Speaker's speech Q&A
View the photographs of the event on flickr here
Read the speech in full here
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